üChina: The Ministry of Education released the 2026 edition of the Undergraduate Major Catalog for Higher Education Institutions,listing 883 majors in total. The interdisciplinary category added four new majors, likeEmbodied Intelligence. Since 2021, universities and colleges nationwide have adjusted over 20,000 major programs to better supportnational strategies and regional development needs.
üSouth Africa: South Africa's public universities are facing a severe demand-supply crisis. At the University of Johannesburg, just 11,200 first-year places are available out of 450,000 applicants, and the national student financial aid scheme cannot cover all students in need. The university is now exploring digital platforms as a potential solution.
üUnited States: The U.S. Department of Education has published the "Secretary' s Supplemental Priority and Definitions on Career Pathways and Workforce Readiness" in the Federal Register. The policy is set to take effect on May 13, 2026. It broadly supports strengthening the alignment between education and the labor market, emphasizing the development of learners' basic skills and long-term development.
üInternational Organization: From April 20 to 24, UNESCO convened a Pacific regional consultation in which representatives from 14 island countries unanimously agreed to embed climate and life skills education more deeply into national curricula, aiming to enhance learners'resilience and capacity to survive climate-related challenges.
China: The Ministry of EducationReleases 2026 Undergraduate Major Catalog to Promote Connection of University Reforms and Social Development
The Ministry of Education officially released the Undergraduate Major Catalog of Higher Education Institutions (2026 Edition).
To develop emerging interdisciplinary fields and cultivateversatile talents, the new Catalog has included 11 existing majorsunder the Interdisciplinary Sciencescategory, such as Future Roboticsand Interdisciplinary Engineering. Furthermore, it has added four new majors, including Embodied Intelligenceand Brain-Computer Science and Technology. Following these adjustments, the Catalog now encompasses 13 discipline categories, 92 major groups, and 883 majors in total.
From 2021, universitiesand collegesnationwide have continuously intensified the optimization and adjustment of their major programs, with the number of newly added and canceled (or suspended) major programs reaching 10,200 and 12,200, respectively. Since this year, the Ministry of Education has guided higher education institutions to establish new majors that serve national strategies and industrial demands, while further improving the expedited approval mechanism for majors in urgent needs.
Source: the Ministry of Educationof China
http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/gzdt_gzdt/s5987/202604/t20260428_1435016.html
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/1cBMzfdmckRW2kfh2ZlgGg
Compiler:HE Yale, UNESCO-TEC
South Africa: Higher Education Mired in Supply-Demand Crisis, with Digitalisation as a Potential Breakthrough
South African higher education is confronting a sharp contradiction: demand for university places far outstrips capacity. Between 1994 and 2011, total public university enrolment doubled to nearly one million and has continued to grow, but infrastructure and funding have lagged seriously behind. At the University of Johannesburg, a striking example of this pressure, the institution received around 450,000 applicants, generating roughly 850,000 individual submissions, for only 11,200 new first‑year places. Across the sector, accumulated student debt at public universities is estimated at R16.5 billion, and the national financial aid scheme cannot cover everyone. A large group of students, the so‑called "missing middle", fall outside the thresholds for government assistance yet remain unable to afford higher education.
In response to these challenges, the University of Johannesburg launched the digital learning platform UJ Digital in 2025. In its first year, the platform attracted around 20,000 enrolments and offered more than 130 courses, ranging from short learning programmes upwards. Professor Letlhokwa Mpedi, Vice‑Chancellor and Principal of the university, has highlighted the goal of creating a "digital twin of the brick‑and‑mortar campus", a model built on fairness, designed to extend access to high‑quality higher education for groups that have traditionally been excluded.
Source:The Pie News
Compiler:XIA Yuxuan, UNESCO-TEC
United States:The U.S. Department of Education Issues Career Pathways Priorities, Strengthening the Link between Education and Employment
The U.S. Department of Education published the "Secretary' s Supplemental Priority and Definitions on Career Pathways and Workforce Readiness" in the Federal Register, serving as an important basis for federal discretionary grant programs. The policy will officially take effect on May 13, 2026. This adds a supplemental policy to the Department' s existing priorities on "literacy", "educational choice", "educational decentralization", "expanding learning opportunities", and "artificial intelligence in education".
During the development process, the Department collected 176 public comments, which overall supported strengthening the alignment between education and the labor market. First, it expands "students" to "learners", formally incorporating adult learners to respond to the structural needs of the labor market. Second, it emphasizes the importance of foundational skills such as literacy, numeracy, digital skills, and critical thinking, avoiding the use of short-term employment outcomes to measure effectiveness. Third, it adds new content on paid apprenticeships, particularly supporting registered apprenticeship programs in the teaching field to alleviate the labor shortage within the education system. This policy reflects the U.S. governance orientation to promote the deep integration of the education system with the employment system.
Source:U.S. Federal Register
Compiler:FENGJiamiao, UNESCO-TEC
International Organization:Pacific Islands Advance Climate Education and Life Skills Training to Strengthen Regional Education Resilience
From April 20 to 24, UNESCO held a Pacific regional consultation in Fiji, focusing on life skills and climate-smart education. Officials and experts from 14 Pacific island countries, including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and others, discussed ways to integrate the Pacific Employability, Transferable and All-Life Skills (PETALS) framework and climate change education more effectively into their national curricula.
Fiji's Minister of Education stressed that, faced with the frontline challenges of climate change, young people need not only academic knowledge but also the skills and values required to navigate an uncertain world. The consultation introduced "curui", a Fijian concept meaning renewal and strengthening, which advocates refining curricula while respecting cultural traditions.
Delegates from Tonga and Papua New Guinea shared concrete examples of integrating climate change content into primary education and teacher training. Participants agreed that regional cooperation is key to building educational resilience, with the goal of enabling learners not only to cope with survival challenges but also to find opportunities for development amidst change.
Source: UNESCO
Compiler:XIA Yuxuan, UNESCO-TEC
